Paul Bunyan
"Paul Bunyan" is Episode 1 in Season 3. It originally aired on July 1, 1985. Synopsis The episode begins with some lumberjacks cutting down trees in the woods. As one tree begins to fall, a logger shouts, "Timber!". LeVar, who's in the great outdoors to celebrate trees in Maine today by welcoming the viewers to put on something warm and have a hard hat handy. When you're in the woods where trees are being harvested, chances are that tree branches may fall. The business of cutting them down is know as "lumbering" or "logging". Lumberjacks or loggers choose the right ones to harvest so a new forest will take birth. They provide food and homes for birds and animals. Many of the things we use once started out as one like furniture, musical instruments, and paper--especially that for books. LeVar tells the viewers that lumbering was no trouble at all for the main/title character in the title book because he was so big. He tells a funny joke about him. He asks the viewers what they could do what they couldn't do now if they were as big and tall as him. Some say they could pick up a dinosaur, step across a river without swimming, and hit a baseball around the world. LeVar is taking a close look at a beautiful part of the forest he's in. He says that it has living proof of nature's renewing cycle of life. The soil he shows has leaves and other tree parts that are decomposing and going back into the Earth. It has nutrients for the tree and plants. Pine cones have seeds inside which have a sail on each one. When the wind blows, it carries the seeds to different places for them to grow. The idea behind harvesting trees is cutting down the biggest ones so that there would be room for little ones to grow. That way, the forest never dies. However, there is one thing that can destroy such a beautiful one--a forest fire. One little match can do so much harm to one big forest. It could take over 30 years for one to be renewed. There are people who do their part in saving ones from fires. Forest rangers practice fire drills so they can be ready to save one. A segment shows how the firefighting rangers do their work when a forest fire is spotted. The best way to keep fires from destroying our woods is by keeping them from happening in the first place. As Smokey the Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires." There are other great American tall tales. There are also folktales or folk stories. An animation is shown which features other tall tale and folktale characters like Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Johnny Appleseed. LeVar is in a nursery of baby trees. Each started out as a little seed. He shows the viewers how to plant one. Millions are planted by the forest service. When the trees are about two or three years old, they transplant them in areas of the forest that have been cleared by the loggers. LeVar says, "Loggers spent many days away from their homes at logging camps. It got boring. So they had contests." He and some others show the viewers some games loggers used to play many years ago. He reminds us to think about how wooden things, and books, once started as trees. During the closing credits, he and the others have another logging competition. Review Books *The Legend of the Bluebonnet *The Whale in the Sky *The Star-Spangled Banner Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes